Part 1: link
Nov 27, 1927 11:45 pm
New Orleans, Louisiana
A French Quarter dance club
Yakov stared at the other men a moment, dark eyes dancing between the Russian boy, the nervous mayor, and the intoxicated teenagers. It had been three days since the last new moon. Alexie guessed this was the first time Yakov had planned to feed since then-- that was his hope, anyway. As if by fate, the girl closest to Yakov suddenly fell into him, giggling breathlessly. She looked up at the man quizzically, as if realizing he had joined them for the first time. The girl was around 18, and the older man was considerably handsome in her drunken state. "Oh, désolé, monsieur," she apologized, still hiccuping her laughs. Yakov suddenly made an instinctive choice, put a finger under her chin, and stared into her eyes. Her expression became entranced, eyes milky and mouth agape. Yakov waited not a секунда later, snapping his head to the side and chomping into the girl's neck.
Mayor O'Keefe jumped to his feet, but Alexie put a strong hand on his arm to stop him. He leaned in close and hissed in the mayor's ear, "You think you're any less monstrous? I know about the levies, mayor. When the Mississipi was flooding through the states at the beginning of the year, Ты made a decision to save your people-- или at least, your wealthy population. Ты were afraid the levies would break and wipe out the cities, so Ты broke them on purpose in the poorest districts. So thousands of homes destroyed, people killed, and Ты and your buddies at the вверх of the political ladder thought it was a success because the mansions were spared."*
The mayor was too stunned to even attempt to defend himself. Alexie sat up, satisfied, and noticed the vampire sitting across from him had finished his meal. The girl was laying limp in his lap, her blue eyes staring blankly. The two bites in her neck had stopped bleeding because there was no longer any blood to bleed. Yakov smiled, eyes a glowing red, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his mouth. But he gave pause when he noticed Alexie's expression go from relaxed to murderously calm.
"You know," he called over the jazz music, "I remember when my sisters were killed in much the same way. Same blank looks on their faces and everything."
Yakov had leisurely lifted the glass of wine, unfazed in his drunken state. "Oh? And who were your sisters?"
"The reasons Ты left Russia."
The vampire nearly choked on his first gulp of wine. He was suddenly on his feet, staring down at the young man. "No- that's impossible- we killed their brother too-" Yakov suddenly found it impossible to keep speaking, choking for real this time. He fell to his knees, weakened by the sudden pain. "W-what did Ты do to me?"
"Silver acetate in your drink. Didn't Ты notice me slip it in? или were Ты too preoccupied by those helpless children?" Alexie was admittedly feeling cocky. It was the look in the vampire's eyes, the look of fear and incomprehension. It had taken so many years to track down this man, the nameless politician in a faded photograph amongst Russian soldiers. When Alexie found out Yakov Svedlov had suddenly died without explanation, he had made it his mission to find out everything he could about the ex-Soviet leader. That terror in the vampire's eyes made all of the searching, traveling, and planning worth it.
Alexie's gloating got the better of him. The vampire was recovering from the surprise attack. It suddenly launched itself at Alexie. But the young man's adrenaline was pumping. He managed to land on вверх as they hit the hardwood floor. He grappled to put his over the vampire's mouth to keep it from calling out to its companions prowling the dance floor for their prey. Alexie hardly felt the pain as it sank its fangs into his flesh. He yanked to the right as hard as he could and was rewarded by a clear SNAP of the vampire's neck. It went limp on the floor.
The young man stood, breathing hard. Clothes ruffled, hair unkempt, murder in his eyes-- even the intoxicated younglings were staring in silent terror. "I'm sorry about this," Alexie apologized, "But your mommies and daddies benefitted from those people they killed in that flood. Everyone here in the wealthy district did. That helps me feel a little better about this."
The brunette knelt and pulled the pistol from its hiding place taped under the couch. He pointed it at the stunned teenagers, its barrel elongated by a silencer, and fired four shots. Two bullets went into the creature at his feet to keep it from recovering-- onein the head and one in the heart, execution style. Alexie holstered the weapon and grabbed the hyperventilating mayor's arm, half-dragging the stumbling man down the stairs.
No one noticed the two men as they exited the back door of the club. Only then did Alexie let go of the mayor. "W-what did Ты do?" Mayor O'Keefe stammered.
"What Ты asked me to do. I'm taking care of your pest problem."
"I asked Ты to exterminate vampires! Not children! And Ты only killed ONE of those monsters."
Alexie took his time in lighting a fresh cigarette. He had Остаться в живых his last one when Yakov had tackled him. The young man tipped his head back and released an exhale of the toxic smoke, watching it rise towards the starry sky. He finally looked to the fuming mayor and motioned with his cigarette to the dark strings blending in with the asphalt, running along the exterior Стена of the dance club. "You thought I did not plan on killing the other four?" He flicked the white stick at the dynamite fuses with perfect aim. The first string lit and started to fizz away, leading into the four other fuses to set them alight. Alarm registered on Mayor O'Keefe's face. He started to stumble away, but the Russian grabbed his arm. "You tell anyone about any of this, I'll let every newspaper from here to Washington, D.C. know about your people breaking those levies. Ты understand?"
The mayor nodded quickly. Alexie released him and watched him flee in panic.* The Russian pushed his fingers through his dark hair and lit another cig before leaving the alley and strolling down the street. Exactly a минута later, at the stroke of midnight, he was a block away when the club exploded. 6 dead bodies, 190 living, and 4 undead were trapped inside as the walls collapsed and the wreckage burned.
Footnotes (all of these are factually and historically accurate to the best of my knowledge):
The flooding of New Orleans' poorer districts really did happen in 1927. However, rumors of the levies being broken on purpose were never confirmed.
Disclaimer: I am not a scientist.
Mayor O'Keefe was really mayor of New Orleans from 1927-1929.
Nov 27, 1927 11:45 pm
New Orleans, Louisiana
A French Quarter dance club
Yakov stared at the other men a moment, dark eyes dancing between the Russian boy, the nervous mayor, and the intoxicated teenagers. It had been three days since the last new moon. Alexie guessed this was the first time Yakov had planned to feed since then-- that was his hope, anyway. As if by fate, the girl closest to Yakov suddenly fell into him, giggling breathlessly. She looked up at the man quizzically, as if realizing he had joined them for the first time. The girl was around 18, and the older man was considerably handsome in her drunken state. "Oh, désolé, monsieur," she apologized, still hiccuping her laughs. Yakov suddenly made an instinctive choice, put a finger under her chin, and stared into her eyes. Her expression became entranced, eyes milky and mouth agape. Yakov waited not a секунда later, snapping his head to the side and chomping into the girl's neck.
Mayor O'Keefe jumped to his feet, but Alexie put a strong hand on his arm to stop him. He leaned in close and hissed in the mayor's ear, "You think you're any less monstrous? I know about the levies, mayor. When the Mississipi was flooding through the states at the beginning of the year, Ты made a decision to save your people-- или at least, your wealthy population. Ты were afraid the levies would break and wipe out the cities, so Ты broke them on purpose in the poorest districts. So thousands of homes destroyed, people killed, and Ты and your buddies at the вверх of the political ladder thought it was a success because the mansions were spared."*
The mayor was too stunned to even attempt to defend himself. Alexie sat up, satisfied, and noticed the vampire sitting across from him had finished his meal. The girl was laying limp in his lap, her blue eyes staring blankly. The two bites in her neck had stopped bleeding because there was no longer any blood to bleed. Yakov smiled, eyes a glowing red, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his mouth. But he gave pause when he noticed Alexie's expression go from relaxed to murderously calm.
"You know," he called over the jazz music, "I remember when my sisters were killed in much the same way. Same blank looks on their faces and everything."
Yakov had leisurely lifted the glass of wine, unfazed in his drunken state. "Oh? And who were your sisters?"
"The reasons Ты left Russia."
The vampire nearly choked on his first gulp of wine. He was suddenly on his feet, staring down at the young man. "No- that's impossible- we killed their brother too-" Yakov suddenly found it impossible to keep speaking, choking for real this time. He fell to his knees, weakened by the sudden pain. "W-what did Ты do to me?"
"Silver acetate in your drink. Didn't Ты notice me slip it in? или were Ты too preoccupied by those helpless children?" Alexie was admittedly feeling cocky. It was the look in the vampire's eyes, the look of fear and incomprehension. It had taken so many years to track down this man, the nameless politician in a faded photograph amongst Russian soldiers. When Alexie found out Yakov Svedlov had suddenly died without explanation, he had made it his mission to find out everything he could about the ex-Soviet leader. That terror in the vampire's eyes made all of the searching, traveling, and planning worth it.
Alexie's gloating got the better of him. The vampire was recovering from the surprise attack. It suddenly launched itself at Alexie. But the young man's adrenaline was pumping. He managed to land on вверх as they hit the hardwood floor. He grappled to put his over the vampire's mouth to keep it from calling out to its companions prowling the dance floor for their prey. Alexie hardly felt the pain as it sank its fangs into his flesh. He yanked to the right as hard as he could and was rewarded by a clear SNAP of the vampire's neck. It went limp on the floor.
The young man stood, breathing hard. Clothes ruffled, hair unkempt, murder in his eyes-- even the intoxicated younglings were staring in silent terror. "I'm sorry about this," Alexie apologized, "But your mommies and daddies benefitted from those people they killed in that flood. Everyone here in the wealthy district did. That helps me feel a little better about this."
The brunette knelt and pulled the pistol from its hiding place taped under the couch. He pointed it at the stunned teenagers, its barrel elongated by a silencer, and fired four shots. Two bullets went into the creature at his feet to keep it from recovering-- onein the head and one in the heart, execution style. Alexie holstered the weapon and grabbed the hyperventilating mayor's arm, half-dragging the stumbling man down the stairs.
No one noticed the two men as they exited the back door of the club. Only then did Alexie let go of the mayor. "W-what did Ты do?" Mayor O'Keefe stammered.
"What Ты asked me to do. I'm taking care of your pest problem."
"I asked Ты to exterminate vampires! Not children! And Ты only killed ONE of those monsters."
Alexie took his time in lighting a fresh cigarette. He had Остаться в живых his last one when Yakov had tackled him. The young man tipped his head back and released an exhale of the toxic smoke, watching it rise towards the starry sky. He finally looked to the fuming mayor and motioned with his cigarette to the dark strings blending in with the asphalt, running along the exterior Стена of the dance club. "You thought I did not plan on killing the other four?" He flicked the white stick at the dynamite fuses with perfect aim. The first string lit and started to fizz away, leading into the four other fuses to set them alight. Alarm registered on Mayor O'Keefe's face. He started to stumble away, but the Russian grabbed his arm. "You tell anyone about any of this, I'll let every newspaper from here to Washington, D.C. know about your people breaking those levies. Ты understand?"
The mayor nodded quickly. Alexie released him and watched him flee in panic.* The Russian pushed his fingers through his dark hair and lit another cig before leaving the alley and strolling down the street. Exactly a минута later, at the stroke of midnight, he was a block away when the club exploded. 6 dead bodies, 190 living, and 4 undead were trapped inside as the walls collapsed and the wreckage burned.
Footnotes (all of these are factually and historically accurate to the best of my knowledge):
The flooding of New Orleans' poorer districts really did happen in 1927. However, rumors of the levies being broken on purpose were never confirmed.
Disclaimer: I am not a scientist.
Mayor O'Keefe was really mayor of New Orleans from 1927-1929.
